


bus kids go to burger king

by bihexualicon



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Burger King - Freeform, Grant Ward Isn't Hydra, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25009063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bihexualicon/pseuds/bihexualicon
Summary: what it says on the tin. family bonding in the form of trash food.It was late, and nearing the end of a semi-successful night. It had been a tough situation, Coulson thinks back, as he drives a SHIELD regulation SUV with the rest of his team packed in. He glances over at Skye, who’d offered to navigate back to the bus.He says, “I’m proud of you. For what you did today and - and just all the work you’ve done. You’re a really important piece of this team. I’m glad you stuck around.”Skye clears her throat and looks down at her phone again, at the little cartoon car moving along the highway as they make their way back home. She takes a deep breath and looks up at him, and he turns his head to look at her.“I’m -,” she started, and he can see her get distracted by something out of the windshield. “I’m starving!” Her eyes flit back to him. “Can we get Burger King? Please?”
Relationships: Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson (hinted), Leo Fitz/Grant Ward (hinted), Skye | Daisy Johnson & Agents of SHIELD Team, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Grant Ward
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	bus kids go to burger king

**Author's Note:**

> can you tell i stopped watching sometime in season two. i just loved that first season so much.

It was late, and nearing the end of a semi-successful night. A superhuman had lost control of herself - a teenager, who later told them she had just discovered her telekinesis that morning - under the control of another superhuman, a classmate of hers. He had the ability to control emotions and manipulated his victim to be very, very angry, which didn’t bode well for the local authorities when she started throwing cars around. Coulson had gotten a migraine as soon as he saw the teenage girl, saw the damage around them. No one wants to point a gun at a kid, even if it’s just a tranquilizer. Luckily, though, his team came together. May worked with law enforcement to evacuate civilians while FitzSimmons distracted the girl with their drones. Ward served as another distraction, getting close enough to hit her with one shot from the Night Night gun before getting thrown into a car. It didn’t take her down, unfortunately, but it allowed Skye to talk her down and get the intel about her classmate. May tracked the kid down to the end of the block and apprehended him. It took maybe fifteen minutes after they got there, and a few hours of helping with clean-up and statements. No major injuries, thank god. The worst was a police officer with a broken wrist and Ward with a couple cracked ribs, though the latter had refused any medical treatment by the local paramedics.  
  
It had been a tough situation, Coulson thinks back, as he drives a SHIELD regulation SUV with the rest of his team packed in. Skye had called shotgun, and Melinda took over the back row of seats to stretch out a sprained knee. Fitz, Simmons, and Ward sat in the middle row, the boys on either side turned to face each other. They are playing some card game, one that was proving increasingly frustrating for Ward as Fitz kept winning. Simmons has long been over supporting her lab partner for winning and now shares hushed conversation with Ward in an attempt to strategize. Coulson likes that they are friends.  
  
He glances over at Skye, who’d offered to navigate back to the bus. He’s proud of all of them, his team, but Skye is really coming into herself. He’d expected… well, he wasn’t quite sure what he expected of a young woman they found living in her van, but it wasn’t this aptitude for fieldwork like this. He takes another glance at her, which she notices.  
  
“What’s up, Coulson?” she asks, fiddling with her phone.  
  
“Nothing’s up, I’m just -” He pauses. They had known each other for months, but it still felt so personal, to say it. At least to Skye, who still kept up so many walls. Less than May. Maybe the same as Ward, just more subtle. “I’m proud of you. For what you did today and - and just all the work you’ve done. You’re a really important piece of this team. I’m glad you stuck around.”  
  
Skye clears her throat and looks down at her phone again, at the little cartoon car moving along the highway as they make their way back home. She takes a deep breath and looks up at him, and he turns his head to look at her.  
  
“I’m -,” she started, and he can see her get distracted by something out of the windshield. “I’m starving!” Her eyes flit back to him. “Can we get Burger King? Please?”  
  
Coulson opens his mouth to say something, but May’s voice travels up through the back -“I could go for some chicken fries.” He looks back at her in the rearview mirror, but she has her eyes closed, looking like all the world she’s asleep and didn’t say anything.  
  
“Are we stopping? I really have to pee. Also, I win again,” Fitz pipes up, turning his hand towards the other two in his row and both let out a groan.  
  
“I hate you,” Simmons says.  
  
“I second that,” Ward says, “and I’m game for Burger King.” Coulson almost, almost says no, that they’re only ten minutes away from the Bus, that they have food there, until Ward continues. “Should probably eat something today.”  
  
“Ward!” Fitz and Simmons scold, and Skye turned in her seat to swat at him.  
  
“Well, suppose we should get something in you,” Coulson says, “so that you can take the pain medication the paramedics gave me. Don’t!” he reprimands. “You don’t get a say, mister! I saw you holding your ribs!”  
  
He groans, not unlike a teenager, and Coulson’s never had children, but god damn if it doesn’t feel like he does now.  
  
“All right kids, let’s go to Burger King.”

  


Fitz nearly falls out of the car in his haste to get inside, and trails a few playing cards out with him.  
  
“Fitz!” Jemma yells after him, though he pays her no mind. She scoops up one of the playing cards and throws it as hard as she can in one smooth, near graceful motion, but only succeeds in hitting Skye in the forehead.  
  
“Ow,” Skye deadpans, pushing her door shut, and Jemma nearly falls over herself apologizing. It’s cute. She’s cute, Skye thinks, and she bends down to grab the offending card and the others Fitz left in his wake. “It’s fine.” She almost knocks heads with Jemma standing up, and for a second she can’t believe they save the world (well, parts of it) on a regular basis. They go catch up with Coulson and May, who are gently scolding Ward between them. He’s rolling his eyes but not completely dismissing him, so she knows he appreciates the gesture.  
  
“Can I get a milkshake?” she asks, and Coulson turns to look at her.  
  
“Sure, Skye. You earned it.”  
  
“Me too?” Jemma pipes in, and Ward asks the same.  
  
“If you guys are getting one, I’m getting one,” May comments as she swings open the door.  
  
Skye ducks under her arm and throws up her hands as she steps in the lobby. “Milkshakes for everyone!” she announces to Fitz, who’s coming out of the restroom.  
  
He throws up his arms to match her. “Hell yeah!”  
  
The gang huddles together in the lobby of Burger King, shuffling around as they eye the menu, not unlike a group of geese eyeing an unwitting picnic across the park.  
  
Ward orders first, Skye stepping up behind him as the others form a rough approximation of order behind them. Skye takes a moment to herself, closing her eyes and letting the din of Burger King wash over her. She finds it’s easy to focus on the voices of her team. Ward’s deep voice as he orders chicken nuggets in front of her, FitzSimmons plotting to order fries and onion rings behind her, May teasing Coulson behind them. It’s nice, to be there, to be a part of a team, to actually enjoy being part of a team. Weird as shit, and she sometimes still misses the solitude of her van, but nice.  
  
“Dipshit, it’s your turn to order.” Skye opens her eyes to see Ward rolling his as he moves to the pickup counter.  
  
“Don’t call me mean words, you fuck,” she responds, before turning to a tired looking teenager behing the counter. She orders, and as the teen turns to hand the order slip to her coworkers, Skye makes another request. The teen rolls her eyes, which Skye tries not to take personally, and hands over six slips of cardboard. She hisses out a yes and trots over to Ward.  
  
He’s leaning against the counter, arms crossed and eyes closed. He looks tired. Skye quietly sets down all but one cardboard crown, assembling the one in her hand with only mild trouble, before standing on her tiptoes and setting it atop Ward’s head. His eyes snap open and focus on her with a questioning look, before he tentatively reaches for the thing on his head. His fingers graze the cardboard, and he grows even more confused, but instead of snatching the thing off like she expects, he looks at her for an answer. She just waves the other crowns lazily, and once the recognition lights his eyes, she begins assembling the others.  
  
Jemma joins them next, and receives her crown with a grin and a faux curtsy. She slides up next to Skye, watching her fold the last crown. She stands maybe a little too close, or at least Ward seems to think so, because he catches her eye with a raised brow and he can fuck right off with whatever he’s implying. Stupid gay ass, trying to accuse her of gay shit. Takes one to know one. She puts her crown on her head, and tosses one at Fitz as he steps over to join them. He clearly saw her throw it, but he still fumbles with it and narrowly avoids dropping it. Still, he smiles as he puts it on his head.  
  
“Your majesty,” he says, nodding at Skye.  
  
“Your majesty,” she replies before turning to Jemma. “Your majesty.”  
  
Jemma does her curtsy thing again. “Your majesty.” She curtsys at Ward. “Your majesty.”  
  
Ward stands up straight and mimics her curtsey and her accent. “Your majesty.” Jemma snorts.  
  
“I don’t sound like that.”  
  
“Yes, you do,” Fitz mutters, leaning on the counter next to Ward. Ward smiles down at him. Yeah, takes one to know one.  
  
Coulson and May walk the few steps over. “Nice crowns,” Coulson says.  
  
“Glad you like them,” Skye replies, pulling the last two out from behind her back and handing them to the other two.  
  
“Oh, yippee.” May says it sarcastically, but puts on the crown with less hesitation than Coulson.  
  
Another tired teenage girl calls out Ward’s number, and then Skye’s a second later. She shoots him some puppy dog eyes that say “Grab mine?” before turning to the condiment stations and grabbing copious amounts of napkins and ketchup packets.  
  
“Mustard, too,” Ward says behind her, and she only takes a second to confirm he had in fact grabbed her tray before leading him around the whole dining room to find the perfect table. She picks on with a booth on one side and chairs on the other, and slides into the corner seat on the booth. Ward sits across from her and instead of unwrapping his burger like a normal human, rips the paper packaging open from the top and slides the burger out.  
  
“Bro,” Skye snorts out, but he ignores her in favor of opening his mustard packets with his teeth. “Bro, you’re a fucking heathen.”  
  
“Gets the job done.” Skye just shakes her head and pops open her box of nuggets.  
  
“God, what does Fitz see in you?”  
  
“Stop it.”  
  
“I’m not doing anything.”  
  
“We’re not talking about Fitz and me.”  
  
“Fine, fine,” Skye says, throwing her hands up in a placating gesture. “Then can we talk about you, Coulson, and May in the parking lot? Because that looked a lot like Mom and Dad giving a lecture to their son.”  
  
Ward picks up his burger, game face on. “Hm. All right. Then let’s discuss how you reacted when Dad said he was proud of you?”  
  
Skye rolled her eyes. “First of all, Coulson is obviously Team Mom, May is Dad.” Ward concedes with a tilt of his head before taking a bite of his food. “Secondly, I obviously have parental issues, that’s not news. And thirdly, Ward from like not even three months ago would have denied them being Mom and Dad in the first place and say that's really unprofessional, Skye, and you fucking didn’t. So I really think that speaks volumes.”  
  
Ward groans. “Don’t talk about my feelings, we’re in a fucking Burger King.”  
  
“Talkin’ about feelings?” Jemma asks, scooting into the booth next to Skye. She seems to have ordered a plain looking salad with chicken, onion rings, and the most chocolatey shake available. Catching Skye staring at it, she adds, “I bribed them to cut up one of the chocolate pies and put it in the shake.”  
  
“Incredible.”  
  
“You really are a genius.”  
  
Jemma bows her head graciously and picks up the shake. “Thank you. It took three degrees to make my finest creation.” She takes a sip and leans back with a satisfied groan. “Don’t even need the salad, really.”  
  
Fitz snorts as he attempts to sit next to Ward, but he trips as he slides into the seat and falls against the other man. Instead of laughing or rolling his eyes at Fitz like he would’ve just a few months ago, Ward drops his burger on the table as his hands shoot out to catch him. Fitz recovers easily, with only a little bit of his drink spilling into his tray, and shoots him a wide smile. Skye tries to give Ward a particularly pointed look, but he ignores it in favor of starting a conversation with the other man. Skye rolls her eyes and dips a fry in Jemma’s shake.  
  
“Manners!” Jemma reprimands, before moving the shake closer to Skye anyway. Yeah, maybe she does like her.  
  
At last, May and Coulson join the family dinner. May drags the chair next to Fitz back noisily with her foot as Coulson takes the spot next to Jemma.  
  
“You could probably write it off as a necessary expense, get SHIELD to pay for it.”  
  
“Burger King is not a necessary expense, May.”  
  
“Then don’t complain about the expense.”  
  
“Sorry we’re expensive,” Ward says.  
  
“I’m a growing girl, I need food!” Skye whines.  
  
“You're not a growing girl. You’re like twenty-five.”  
  
“So? What’s your point? I don’t need to eat?”  
  
“Children, please,” Jemma interrupts. “Not at the table.”  
  
“Yeah, we need to say grace,” Fitz pipes in. The table goes silent and Coulson quickly puts down the sandwich he was about to take a bite of. “I’m kidding, I’ve literally never said grace. We’ve had team meals together!” he laughs as Jemma giggles into her hand. “Name one time I’ve said grace! Why would you believe me?”  
  
May rolls her eyes and, in a rare gesture of affection, ruffles Fitz’s hair before she starts to eat. Coulson makes a half-hearted attempt to explain himself but Jemma just gives him a giggly “Sir” and shakes her head.  
  
Skye finishes her food the quickest, though not without a “heathen” comment from Ward. Sighing, she leans back in the corner, kicking Ward until he scoots over in his seat just enough for her to rest one foot on his chair. She closes her eyes, not meaning to drift asleep, but the satisfaction of a day well done, a warm meal, and the comfortable din of the restaurant and her team around her is too much to resist. She leans her head against the wall. Distantly, she’s aware of laughter, of a teasing Fitz and flustered Ward becoming even more flustered when May joins in, of Coulson chiding someone over dropping food, of a cool hand delicately brushing a strand of her hair away from her face.  
  
It’s Ward’s voice that wakes her again. “C’mon, Sleeping Beauty.” Skye reluctantly opens her eyes to find Ward half in the booth, his hand on her arm. “I think everyone else is about ready to go. May even got another milkshake.”  
  
Groggily, Skye slides out of the booth. Ward ignores how she huffs at him when he puts his hands on her shoulders and steers her out of the place. Humming overhead, the parking lot lights give off a cheap yellow light dim enough to see all the stars poking through the dark sky. Coulson and May lean against the SUV, sharing a shake between them. Jemma’s off to the side, looking up at the stars and pointing out constellations. Fitz is torn between giving her attention and walking along a string of wheel stops. She leans back against Ward, and he shifts easily to put an arm around her. All of it makes her smile. Skye's never had a family, but damn it if they don’t feel like one now.


End file.
